On 15 August 2024, the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2024 (Qld) (Amending Act) received proclamation. The Amending Act primarily amends the Residential Tenancies and Rooming Accommodation Act 2008 (Qld) (RTRA Act), and introduced several significant changes with some already in effect as of 6 June 2024, as set out in our article here.
In this alert, we explore some of the key changes coming into effect shortly, highlight the future changes which will come into effect next year, and provide a roadmap of the overall changes from the Amending Act.
Where are we going?
Recognising the confusing landscape of amendments under the Amending Act, a table summarising the various changes and when they commence is set out at the end of this alert.
The proclamation of the Amending Act commences further provisions from 30 September 2024, primarily:
- Offering tenants at least 2 ways to pay rent, including a way that does not incur more than the usual bank costs and is reasonably available to the tenant.
- Evidence to substantiate bond claims must be provided within 14 days (see further below).
- Bills for service charges to be paid by a tenant must be provided within 4 weeks of receipt, failing which the tenant is not required to pay.
- Reletting costs will be capped, generally calculated based on the remaining period of the tenancy.
The impact of some of these changes is discussed further below.
The more substantive amendments, including a new standardised application form and restrictions on information that can be collected, will commence on 1 May 2025, following further consultation with the sector.
30 September changes – what do I need to know?
Bond claims
Perhaps the most notable change from 30 September 2024 (subject to the transitional provision noted below) is that landlords must provide ‘evidence’ to substantiate bond claims within 14 days of making a claim on a bond. Evidence can include receipts, quotes or ledgers.
While this evidentiary requirement is generally supported, obtaining this evidence within the required time frame is likely to pose challenges for landlords, particularly amid a competitive contractor market where delays are common and contractors may not even be prepared to quote.
To manage this timeframe, some landlords might delay submitting their applications to allow more time to gather quotes and invoices. However, this delay may increase the likelihood of a tenant making a claim for return of the bond, triggering a dispute resolution process and the 14 day time frame for the landlord to provide their evidence for a counterclaim.
We are aware of landlords considering the viability of ‘standing quotes’ (for frequent damage caused) to speed up the bond claim process.
Importantly, the above new evidence requirements do not yet apply to claims made on bonds paid to the RTA before 30 September 2024 (refer new section 585). Claims on these ‘existing’ bonds will require evidence from 30 September 2025, allowing additional lead time for a majority of circumstances.
Reletting costs
Another important change is to reletting costs, which are now capped at a specified amount instead of the existing limit to ‘reasonable costs’.
| For fixed term tenancies of 3 years or less (the most common scenario), tenants can be charged reletting costs equal to the lesser of: | ||
| (a) | If less than 25% of the term has expired | 4 weeks’ rent |
| If 25% to 50% of the term has expired | 3 weeks’ rent | |
| If 50% to 75% of the term has expired | 2 weeks’ rent | |
| If 75% or more of the term has expired | 1 weeks’ rent | |
| (b) | Rent payable for the period between the tenant handing over vacant possession of the premises and the day a new agreement commences. | |
Notably, the agreement must include a clause allowing landlords to recover reletting costs. For tenancy agreements, this is expected to be captured by an updated clause 7 of the General Tenancy Agreement, but rooming agreements will require a special condition (unless addressed by an update to the template agreement).
Key takeaways
Landlords should be alert to changes to the standard forms published by the RTA, particularly the General Tenancy Agreement (Form 18a) (to include updated clause 7), Rooming Accommodation Agreement (Form R18) and any updated bond refund forms.
Processes should also be implemented to ensure that the bond claim evidence requirement is complied with (where applicable), and any frequently used contractors should be briefed to ensure they are aware of the 14 day time frame.
Landlords should also review their systems and processes to ensure timely provision of invoices for service charges, and correctly calculate reletting costs (where permitted by the agreement).
Finally, landlords (and particularly community housing providers and providers of specialist disability and purpose built student accommodation) should continue to engage on the further reforms coming in May 2025, which will have a significant impact.
Roadmap
| From 6 June 2024 | ||
| Summary | RTRA Act section | |
| 1 | The annual rent increase frequency limit is attached to the premises instead of the tenancy*. |
s93 (Residential tenancy) s105B (Rooming accommodation) |
| 2 | Written agreements must include the day the rent for the premises was last increased for the premises*. |
s61 (Residential tenancy) s77 (Rooming accommodation) |
| 3 | Written notices of rent increases must include the day the rent was last increased for the premises*. |
s91 (Residential tenancy) s105 (Rooming accommodation) |
| 4 | Tenants have the right to request evidence of the last rent increase at any time, and landlords are required to provide such evidence within 14 days*. |
s93A (Residential tenancy) s105C (Rooming accommodation) |
| 5 | All forms of rent bidding are prohibited, including accepting rent offers higher than the advertised price or accepting more than 1 months’ rent in advance. | |
| 6 | *Social housing is exempt from those provisions marked ‘*’, where provided by an ‘exempt lessor’ or ‘exempt provider’ (including community housing providers). |
s93 (Residential tenancy) s105B (Rooming accommodation) |
| From 30 September 2024 | |||
| Summary | Amending Act section | Future RTRA Act section | |
| 1 | Tenants must be offered at least 2 ways to pay rent, including a way that does not incur more than the usual bank costs and is reasonably available to the tenant. | s52 (Residential tenancy) | New ss83-84B |
| s53 (Rooming accommodation) | New ss98-99B | ||
| 2 | Evidence to substantiate bond claims must be provided within 14 days. | s54 | New s136AA |
| 3 | Bills for service charges (including water consumption) to be paid by a tenant must be provided within 4 weeks of receipt, failing which the tenant is not required to pay. | ss56 to 59 | Amended ss165 to 170 |
| 4 | Reletting costs will be capped, generally calculated based on the remaining period of the tenancy. | s72 (Residential tenancy) | Amended s357A |
| s73 (Rooming accommodation) | Amended s396A | ||
| From 1 May 2025 | |||
| Summary | Amending Act section | Future RTRA Act section | |
| 1 | A new standardised rental application form (to be created) must be used when a tenant is applying for a rental property. | s50 (Residential tenancy) | New s57B |
| s51 (Rooming accommodation) | New s76C | ||
| 2 | Tenants must have at least 2 ways to lodge the application form, including one that does not use third-party platforms. | s50 (Residential tenancy) | New s57B |
| s51 (Rooming accommodation) | New s76C | ||
| 3 | Limits on information that can be requested and collected by landlords. | s50 (Residential tenancy) | New ss57C and 57D |
| s51 (Rooming accommodation) | New ss76D and 76E | ||
| 4 | Limits on collecting personal information from applicants or tenants. | s80 | New ss457D to 457E |
| 5 | Entry notice period increases from 24 hours to 48 hours (save that, for rooming accommodation, entry for cleaning remains 24 hours and certain exemptions still apply) | s62 (Residential tenancy) | Amended s193 |
| s69 (Rooming accommodation) | Amended s259 | ||
| 6 | Entry after notice to leave/intention to leave given will be restricted where entry is more than twice in a 7 day period (with some exemptions). | s63 (Residential tenancy) | New s195A |
| s70 (Rooming accommodation) | New s259A | ||
| 7 | Tenants can attach fixtures or make structural changes subject to consent. | ss64 to 68 | New ss207 – 209A, 209C, 254 – 256, and 256AB |
If you require any assistance in navigating the changes to the RTRA Act or any issues raised in this article, please contact a member of our Real Estate team.